


Lost

by Ragee



Category: Monsta X (Band), 걸어 | All in - Monsta X (Music Video)
Genre: Angst?, Gen, Jackson GOT7, Jaebum GOT7, Jennie Blackpink - Freeform, Jinyoung GOT7, Minor Character Death, Namjoon BTS, Youngjae GOT7, Yujin Playback, mentions of marksonnot even, minor other groups characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 04:03:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14947224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragee/pseuds/Ragee
Summary: In a dystopian world Jooheon and his friends struggle for the most basic things. His friends have excepted it as their life, but Jooheon can’t. Haunting dreams have pushed him over the edge and he’s sure that if they stay there they’ll experience death worse than their lives. He has to try and save the only important people left in his life alive... right?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfiction on Ao3 and so I just really hope that I don’t bore you to death. Alright that’s all for now, thanks for reading!

Soft hands caressed Jooheon's soft, round cheeks and tears streamed down his face, followed by small sniffles. "Shhhhhh, it'll be ok Jooheon," a tenderly feminine voice hushed. "Mama promises." 

Jooheon watched a gentle smile spread across his mother's face and for some reason, it made him want to cry more. He hated seeing his mother like this. Frail, bedridden, pale, and malnourished, it was not a prepossessing sight and did nothing for the woman's true beauty. Jooheon knew she was dying, he knew he was spending his last time with her in this moment, he knew that she was in so much pain and that a quiet and peaceful death would provide so much relief for her, none of that made it any easier though. He was only 7, he shouldn't have to deal with this but he was and he had been since around 3 years ago when his mother first got sick. From the time he was 4 years old he had to act more like an adult than any of the other kids; helping his mother walk, helping his mother cook and clean, getting groceries from the market, and so much more. He was willing to endure that for the rest of his childhood and forever more if it meant he didn't have to watch his mother die but, in the world they lived in he wasn't even lucky enough to get that.

"Jooheon climb into the bed, mum needs to have a talk with you," her smile faded and a serious look overtook her face. Jooheon climbed onto the bed and crawled over to his mother who grunted in pain as she made herself sit up to better hold onto and comfort her son. Once Jooheon was properly snuggled in between her arm and body she planted a kiss on his head and sighed. "Jooheon I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You had to grow up too fast and I feel horrible about it. It's ok to blame me for it, I'll understand. But just think, once I'm gone then you'll get to live with Hyunwoo and his grandpa and you can finally play instead of having to take care of me," she chuckled at her own dark humor, her son not really seeing the hilarity in it. 

"Jooheon, look at me please." He obeyed his mother and turned just a bit so that his tear streaked face was once again visible. "Jooheon you know I love you and I know loss is hard but, promise me once I'm gone you're going to be a kid. Promise me that you'll continue to be someone I'm proud of because right now-" she choked a bit both from her sickness and the fact that she was desperately holding back tears, trying to be strong for her child, "right now, I, am so, so, so proud of you. I'm the luckiest mother in the world and I couldn't ask for a better son. You make me so proud Jooheon." She sobbed. Jooheon sat there looking up at her still holding back the majority of his tears, he knew she wasn't done so he patiently waited.

"Now Jooheon I want you to remember some things, remember what little I've been able to teach you. Tell me what you have to do for me to be proud of you." She huffed, wiping away the stray tears on his face. He sniffled once more and took a deep breath.

"For you to be proud of me I need to be kind, caring, and helpful." Once he had finished he looked to his mother to see how he'd done but when he looked into her eyes he saw only sadness. "You have to know I want more than that for you Jooheon. I want you to be all those things and more. I want you to be joyful, I want you to be a kid for as long as you can, I want you to be passionate, your father was like that and I see so much of him in you. There's one thing I want you to be the most though. Happy, I want more than anything for you to be happy. Be joyful Jooheon, it's really the last advice I'll be able to give you so I'm going to stress it. Do whatever it takes to be happy and keep those close to you safe and happy too." 

After his mother said this something clicked in his head, something that for a regular 7 year old would go way over their head but, for little Jooheon who had to grow up way faster than he should have, this revelation was clear in his mind. These were his mother's last wishes right here and it's all she wanted for him. To him, these wishes were set in stone and he had to make all of them true for his mother. His mother who was so kind and caring to those around her, his mother who only wanted the best for him, his mother who felt extreme guilt for taking his childhood away.

"Ok mama, I promise that I will be kind, I will be caring, I will play and have fun, I will be helpful, joyful, and passionate, and, I will be happy."

"That's my boy." she smiled that beautiful smile again. "And Jooheon, you don't have to be brave for me anymore, be a kid for me." With those last words he sat in silence and thought, slowly his light sniffles got louder and heavier until he jumped at his mother and started loudly sobbing, his mother along with him. Both of them cried themselves to sleep in each other's arms. Jooheon happy to be falling asleep in the warm embrace of his mother. 

When Jooheon woke up hour or so later he woke up alone, and next to a cold body.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Jooheon! Where are you?"_

 

_Jooheon halted his running immediately when the familiar sound of his name made its way to his ears. Changkyun, it was Changkyun that called him but, where was he? He stayed still to listen for his friend but only heard the gentle sway of the long grass he stood in. His breath was heavy as he panted and he looked for the younger boy. He had gotten separated from his group of friends and the solitude was making him panic. He couldn't exactly remember how or when they started running, all he knew was that soldiers were after them and that they were running, it was all he needed to know._

 

_"Changkyun!" He yelled into the empty field he stood in. "Changkyun where are you?". He stood there trying to pick apart the sounds of leaves rustling from possible foot steps._

 

_"Jooheon!" He whipped around to see a tired Changkyun running toward him, his dark brown hair flopping in the wind. Jooheon started to walk towards his friend in an effort to meet him half way. The younger flopped into his friends arms once he reached him and he was panting harder than Jooheon was._

 

_"Where are the others?" Jooheon frantically asked._

 

_"They-they're gone! I-i don't even know where they a-are!"_

 

_Jooheon panicked at the thought of all of their older friends being just gone suddenly but if they were gone that meant he had been shouldered the responsibility of caring for Changkyun who was only 12, despite being only 14 himself._

 

_The wind whirled around them as the sense finally returned to Jooheon's head and he realized they'd have to worry about the others later when they were safe. "Ok. That's ok." He lied. He had to get Changkyun to start running or the soldiers would find them. He patted his friend's back and tried to yank him up. "Changkyun we have to get ou-"_

 

_"Hey there they are!"_

 

_"Fuck. Come on Changkyun you have to run!" He pushed the younger in front of him and made him run. He heard a shot or two being fired from the guns behind but didn't have the courage to look behind him unlike Changkyun who probably looked behind too much._

 

_BANG_

 

_He heard it before he felt it. Changkyun looked behind once again and stopped dead in his tracks and slammed into Jooheon. Tears started to fall and he kept looking at his shoulder. That's when it hit him again, this time in his thigh and that time he felt it. Both areas started to burn and the pain ripped through him like a wild fire rips through a forest. He knew he wouldn't be able to run and so he placed his hands on Changkyun's shoulders and spun him around then pushed him as hard as he could. "Run you idiot!" He yelled._

 

_The soldiers were still far away from them and he was hoping they were far enough away to give him time to limp into the forest after Changkyun. He took one step and his leg immediately gave out, the pain and burning sensation now worse. He sat there on his knees yelling at a conflicted Changkyun to turn around and run, instead the 12 year old chose to go help the older. As Jooheon was now lower the ground now it gave way to a new target. He continued to yell at the younger when another bang erupted through the clearing._

 

_He watched as a hole tore through Changkyun's chest and both of them went silent. Changkyun's tears multiplied but his face stayed stoic as he fell. Jooheon's frown disappeared as his own tears made their way down his face and he dove to try and cushion his friend's fall. He didn't make it though and crawled the rest of the way to his injured friend._

 

_"Changkyun! I-I'm so so sorry." Tears poured form his eyes as he cupped his friend's face in his hands._

 

_Changkyun's eyes were barely open and his mouth was slightly ajar. His eyes slowly wandered the world around them, tears steadily dripping, before falling on Jooheon, he just stared at him as he coughed up blood. With a sharp intake of breath he tried to speak._

 

_"It hurts... it really hurts,_

 

_Jooheon."_

 

"Jooheon!"

 

Jooheon's eyes snapped open and light flooded his vision as he jerked awake. The sudden calling of his name sent him rolling off his bed and to the ground where he hit his head on the corner of his night stand.

 

"Ouch," he heard someone mockingly say.

 

Jooheon got up off the floor with a groan and rubbed the sore spot on his head. "What," he grumbled.

 

"Come on! You have to get up, we have work soon!"

 

Jooheon looked up at his two friends. Changkyun, who he had just watched traumatically die was hard to look at at the moment so he opted to look at his taller and lankier friend who was a few months older than him. Hyungwon stood tall and authoritative above Jooheon. "If I don't get to sleep in you can bet your ass I'm not letting you. Get up, we're leaving soon."

 

"Jesus... who shit in his bed this morning?" Jooheon asked after hearing Hyungwon walk downstairs. Changkyun offered a hand to help him up as he chuckled. His face suddenly turning a little serious to answer. "His dad is... back,"

 

"Oh,"

 

"Never mind that for now, hyung. Are you ok? It looked like you were crying in your sleep, were you dreaming about your mother?" The younger boy asked while avoiding eye contact.

 

Jooheon knew Changkyun was a little more sensitive than the rest because he was the youngest even if he pretended to be strong and he wasn't about to scare the kid by telling him he was crying because he watched him die in his dream. "Uuuuh, yah. Yah I uh, dreamt about my mum. Leave me alone for a while please so I can uh, regroup and get dressed. I'll be downstairs in like 7 minutes so just try to keep Hyungwon from getting his panties in a twist for me will ya?" He said pushing the younger out the door.

 

"Uh, sure thing hyung. Please hurry so we aren't punished."

 

Jooheon simply nodded and closed the door closed after Changkyun was out of his room. He let out a long sigh as he slid down the door. He still wasn't totally over his dream. He'd had others like this a lot in the past couple weeks. Dreams where he had to watch his friends die or get hurt, last night it had been Minhyuk. He let out another sigh before picking himself up off the floor and walking to his dresser where his limited amount of clothes were shoved messily in the drawers. He picked out the clothes that were older and grosser than the rest and changed.

 

Before walking down the stairs he instead turned to the right and went down a small hallway that led to Gramps' room. He peeked his head through the space between the door frame and the squeaky door and peered into the room. He saw Gramps sleeping soundly on the bed and focused on the steady rise and fall of his chest, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding when it was clear the old man was in fact breathing. He then checked that a note as well as a bundle of pills and small tin mug of water sat on the bedside table set out by Hyunwoo was left.

 

"What took you so long?" Hyungwon scoffed.

 

"Chill, I was just checking on Gramps." He said, hopping down the creaky, old, wooden stairs.

 

"Oh. How is he?"

 

"Breathin so, as good as he can be I guess."

 

Hyungwon's mouth started to open when Changkyun suddenly cut in. "Guys come on if we don't run then we'll be late!"

 

"Shit" the two oldest said in unison. The three suddenly broke out in a run for the fields Changkyun in the front, Hyungwon in close second, and Jooheon a steady distance behind them.

 

The boys came to a slow halt as they saw the gates to the fields approaching. They all walked through the gates and bowed to the police guarding as they passed by, panting loudly from running. Once past the gates they all went to the large hut that held signs on the jobs of the day and equipment for it.

 

The farming fields were separated into 5 sectors determined by age. From ages 10-14 kids were required to work in the fields and were considered old enough to freely work at the age of 15. Each sector of the field was worked on by all the children born in a certain year and the adults who never left the fields to work other jobs.

 

"Changkyun!" A girl called from the closest sector. It was Jennie, a 12 year old girl that was close friends with Changkyun. A boy stood beside her and waved with her at their friend. Jooheon watched the far away duo and guessed that it was probably Youngjae standing beside the small girl.Changkyun waved back excitedly and turned back to his things for a moment. "Bye hyungs, see you later!" And off he ran with his harvesting supplies.

 

Hyungwon and Jooheon chuckled at their friend and turned back to pick up their plows and wheeled them over to their sector, the farthest sector. Once they got to the stables of their sector they started hooking up a donkey to each plow and off they went. People ahead of them sprayed the dirt with a watering machine and people behind them started planting.

 

The day was long and hot, the sun beat down on them with more strength than the corrupt law enforcement did and exhaustion was evident on everyone's face. In between jobs Jooheon and Hyungwon would take little breaks and chat with each other as well as their friends like Yujin, a short and serious girl but a beautiful one at that, Namjoon, a smart boy that often shocked them with his seemingly infinite knowledge, and Jackson, who in a world of suffering seemed to be rare ray of light wth his constant jokes and energized personality.

——————————————

 

Yujin leaned on her shovel and wiped the sweat from her brow as Jackson giggled and told her jokes to try and crack her stoic expression. "Hey! Get working!" A guard yelled and drew back his whip. Yujin gasped and instinctively crossed her arms in front of her face and closed her eyes, waiting for the whip to crack down on her.

 

It never did though. The guard sauntered down the path content that his whip hit someone and not caring who. Yujin opened her eyes and her arms fall to her sides. Jackson stood in front of her, his expression painful. Jackson's legs gave out as he stood trying to recover from the whip, Yujin stepping closer and catching his limp body with guilty tears in her eyes. To be so defeated by one hit of the whip would be a little shameful had it not been Jackson, he got hit so many times at the fault of his boisterous personality that even his muscular body had troubles recovering. Yujin started yelling for anyone around her to help, whispering soft sorries at Jackson in between.

 

Hyungwon and Jooheon came to their aid to take him to Jinyoung and Jaebum, two boys who were close with Jackson as they didn't only belong to the same orphanage as him, JYPark Orphanage, but also shared a room with him. Namjoon stayed behind to comfort Yujin and take her to one of his orphanage roommates, Hoseok, who was always sweet and funny enough to dull any bad situation.

 

"Jaebum!" Jooheon called. Jaebum wasn't even in the field anymore. He and Jinyoung were off to the side near the wall filling in a large hole, they had probably just buried a dead donkey or ox. Jaebum looked up from the hole and wiped his forehead of sweat before looking at Hyungwon and Jooheon and then noticing his dangling roommate between them. He tapped Jinyoung on the shoulder as worry spread through his face and ran to meet them halfway.

 

"Jackson what the hell happened?" He boomed, his serious and dominant aura seeping out.

 

"I was being a hero to a helpless and beautiful maiden. Heh-" he said with a smirk but was interrupted by his own coughing. He spit on the ground in front of him before looking back up and smiling again.

 

"Him and Yujin weren't working and a soldier went to whip her but he jumped in front," Hyungwon explained and Jaebum looked down at him with a conflicted look, not wanting Jackson to be hurt but thankful he didn't let Yujin get whipped.

 

"See," Jackson smirked, "just like I said. I saved a beautiful maiden."

 

"Mark won't be impressed." Jinyoung piped up.

 

Jackson's face tightened. "I-I was only helping a friend, nothing else. Yujin isn't even that pretty, Mark is waaaay prettier. You can tell him I said that too."

 

"Uh huh, sure."

 

"Ok well we need to get back to work or we'll be in shit so here you go," Jooheon said, sliding Jackson's arm off of his shoulder and passing him to Jaebum.

 

"Thanks," he said.

 

Just as Hyunywon and Jooheon were walking away when Jackson called them. "Make sure Yujin knows it's not her fault... please." His face was uncharacteristically serious so Jooheon and Hyungwon just nodded and carried on.

 

The sun was now lower in the sky which signified  that the work day was almost done and they'd get to home soon. All the children were back at it now, labouring away on the fields when the sound of a whistle blew through the noise of the wind. They all looked in the direction of the far away gates and saw kids and adults alike ambling to to the exit so they followed too, taking their equipment with them.

 

Once at the equipment hut they shouldered off their tools and exited though the gates and scanned the area. Hyunwoo tapped Jooheon's shoulder and pointed in the direction of their older friends. "There they are Jooheon," and the two made their way over to the group of 4.

 

"Hey you two, how were the fields?" Hyunwoo asked.

 

"Same as they always are. I'm gross and sweaty can we hurry up and go to the river?" Jooheon replied and fanned himself.

 

"Be patient, we're still waiting for Changkyun," Kihyun frowned.

 

Suddenly a small Changkyun was skipping over to them, a big smile etched on his face. Jooheon was always wondering why Changkyun smiled so much, from the age of 10 he'd been working and everything else in all of their lives was shit. The laws for working had changed the month before Changkyun turned 10 which meant he didn't get as much of a childhood as the rest had, how lucky Hoseok and Hyunwoo had been that they only had to work a year in the fields. To Jooheon, his youngest friend had been done an injustice but that didn't seem to dull his day a bit.

 

"Hey guys," Changkyun smiled, "can we go to the river now, I'm super sweaty and I feel dead."

 

"Sure, lets go." Hyunwoo said turning around.

 

Suddenly Jooheon remembered something and he panicked a bit. "Hyung, did you check on Gramps before coming here?"

 

"Of course I did. He's been left alone for half the day, I wouldn't not go check on him." Hyunwoo answered with a sliver of aggression. Jooheon didn't mind though, the thought of Gramps being ok dulled the sting of Hyunwoo's tone.

 

As the 7 walked to the river Jooheon noticed how Minhyuk didn't speak much, it was odd because he was normally the happiest and most energetic. Then he noticed how sometimes Kihyun would pat his back and stick close to him. Something must have a happened at the mines where Minhyuk worked. He was pretty sensitive guy so if someone died while he was there, even if he wasn't close with them, he'd be affected.

 

Once they got to the river deep in the forest, that Jooheon would argue is more like a large stream than a river, they all stripped their clothes and jumped in.It was a deep stream, going up to Jooheons mid torso or so.They were all splashing around and laughing when a series of twig snapping stopped them. They looked at the path they had come from. 3 soldiers appeared in front of them.

 

"You guys are awfully far away from town, you know that's forbidden. Get out." One snapped.

 

The boys all looked to Hyunwoo for what to do, he was kind of the unspoken leader of their group. Hyunwoo sighed and nudged his head toward the shore as if to say "just comply", and so they all did. Shuffling their clothes on and walking back through the path. It was then that a soldier snatched Changkyun from the back of the group and pointed a gun at his head. Changkyun's gasp was enough for the older 6 to whip their heads to face the situation. The soldier smirked as Changkyun's heart started rapidly beating and the heavy rise and fall of his chest showed his nervousness.

 

"You boys know that what you did is illegal so maybe I should give a punishment to put you guys in your place, hm?" The soldier grinned and his gross yellow teeth didn't go unnoticed by Jooheon.

 

He didn't have time to think about it right now though because the sight in front of him reminded him of his dream and sent him into a panic. "NO!" He yelled and everyone was startled by his sudden loudness. He realized that if he didn't talk to the soldiers like they were above him it might put Changkyun in further risk, so he swallowed the lump in his throat and calmed himself down "I mean, please don't. We're begging you." He said calmly as he kneeled onto the ground and bowed in front of the soldiers. The rest of his group doing the same.

 

The confused look on the soldiers' faces turned to ones of pleasure and they shoved Changkyun hard toward them and Minhyuk caught him. "What a bunch of cowards!" The soldiers sneered and walked away. The whole group let out a breath and walked in silence back to the village.

 

The sun was close to the horizon by the time they got back. Their spirits all drained they all stopped and just stared at the village. The houses were mainly all placed on the large hill and the streets down bellow held small stores and venders carts. With a population of 800-900 and the constant war torn state it looked anything but impressive. Corrupt soldiers patrolled the area and made the villagers' lives hell. Jooheon didn't want to look at it anymore, he just wanted to go home so he pushed passed his friends and started walking. The others soon followed after and Minhyuk decided it time to return to his normal self to up their mood. He joked around and roughhoused with Hyungwon and Changkyun and made jokes with the others.

 

The group trekked their way up the rubble stone stairs to get to their homes and one by one they broke off from each other. Hyungwon leaving the group first and reluctantly walking back to his home where his father waited. Then Hoseok, Minhyuk, Kihyun, and Changkyun broke off to go to their house. With all of them orphans and 3 of them being considered adults in this town they took in Changkyun and lived together. The last we're Hyunwoo and Jooheon who lived together with Hyunwoo's grandpa who had graciously taken in Jooheon after his mother passed.

 

The two tiptoed through the front door and up the old stairs that led to the bedrooms. Hyunwoo went and checked on Gramps while Jooheon waited in the hallways for an update. When he saw Hyunwoo turn around and give a thumbs up he returned it and went into his own room.

 

His bed was horrible and barely squished beneath him as he laid down. His heavy eyelids finally shut and he drifted into sleep.

_———————_

_"Hyung!"_

_"Come on Jooheon they're coming!" Hoseok yelled and pulled Jooheon by the hand_

_"Hyung! Stop! I said stop!" He pulled hard enough from Hoseok's grasp and he stopped with the older stopping a couple steps ahead. Hoseok walked back to him and went behind him to begin to push him forward. "Jooheon, we don't have time. Get going!"_

_"Hyung," he huffed and turned around to ace the older. "What are we even running for?"_

_Hoseok looked blankly at him. "Your kidding." He said but rolled his eyes when Jooheon continued to look confused. "The soldiers! They're comi-"_

_BANG_

_Boy was this familiar. Hoseok's eyes widened and he slowly looked down. Jooheon followed his gaze. A red stain soon started sleeping through his clothes. Hoseok's legs began to weaken but before he could collapse Jooheon rushed to catch him. With their bodies so close Jooheon could feel the blood transfer from his friend's clothes to his. He gulped, this was too much._

_"Jooheon, you have to leave."_

_"Hyung n-"_

_"Jooheon! Listen to me," he said and rested his head on Jooheon's shoulder, "you have to go."_

_"Hyung, I can see them. I see the soldiers up ahead."_

_Hoseok panicked. If Jooheon started running now then they'd see him and shoot him too. He had to think of something else._

_"Just collapse. Pretend the bullet got you too and use my body to shield you."_

_"Hyung, I don't want to..." he said, tearing up._

_"I didn't ask if you wanted to. Just do it." He coughed. And Jooheon complied. Lying down in the most realistic but softest way as to cushion Hoseok. While his heart was pounding in his chest he could feel the receding beat in Hoseok's chest. He could feel the older's tears slowly soaking his shoulder and he too joined in, a steady flow of tears falling from his eyes._

_"Hyung I can't do this, I can't do it anymore..."_

_"Then wake up." He choked out, coughing up blood in the process._

_"What?" Jooheon's tears suddenly stopped._

_"I said wake up then!"_

_Jooheon closed his eyes and tuned out from the noise of shoes crunching on leaves in the distance and the yelling of soldiers._

 

Jooheon woke with a sudden jolt and choked on his own deep gasp of air. He held his throat for a second before moving his hand down to his abdomen and feeling around for a wet spot. He found none and sighed in satisfaction. Then he brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and his heart was still rapidly pumping.He knew that he wasn't going to be able to go to bed unless he cleared his head.

 

The bed creaked as he swung his legs over the edge and his feet landed on the hard wooden floor with a soft pat. He was about to go to his dresser to put on clothes when he remembered he never changed out of his other ones in the first place. He peeked his head out the door, looking down the hall for anyone before carefully creeping out and going and checking on Gramps. The man laid peacefully on the bed and Jooheon looked to his chest thankful to see him breathing. He knew though that things hadn't been going so well as now he had his breathing machine hooked up and the mask over his face. Jooheon pushed the thought to the side and left the room to check on Hyunwoo. The older boy snoring in his stomach face down and a leg hanging over the side of the bed. He smiled a little at the sight before walking away.

 

The breeze was cool and soothing, instantly calming Jooheon's nerves and he basked in the moonlight. He wasn't sure where he was going, he just let his feet lead. He barely remembers hopping down the chipped stone steps or walking through the rubbled streets, now though, he's suddenly standing in front of the dense woods on the other side of town from where him and his friends usually spend their time. He looks into the dark and shrugs, he needs to occupy himself with something and exploring something new will work just fine. 

 

The woods were even better than the town streets and he feels a deep feeling of serenity as he picks his way through the underbrush. It doesn't take long of him walking through the trees when he stops to take it in. He stands in a patch where the moonlight shines through the trees and he can't help but feel so at peace for once in his life. He can't see too far in front of him, the only thing illuminating the forest being the small patches moonlight shining through the trees, but he still scans. To his left the woods start to seem elevated as the trees climb the same big stretch of hill that the small, condensed house of his village are built on, and to his right it stays flat and grassier. In the distance though, he squints to see a small orange, glowing light. Curiosity gets the best of him and he changes direction.

 

It takes a while for him to get close enough to confirm that it seems to be a campfire, with soldiers sitting around it and all laughing and joking around. At the sight of soldiers he should have known to turn around go back home but something seemed strange. The soldiers seemed to be cooking something. Once again, a soldier started laughing. It wasn't a normal laugh though, he had thrown his head back and started laughing hysterically and maybe it could have been seen as normal except for the fact that none of the other soldiers had said anything before his sudden fit and the other strange thing that only 1 of the soldiers had any sort of reaction to his comrade practically falling over, which was only a small fit of giggles. The rest of the soldiers would stare intensely either at the sky, the fire, or at bowls that some of them had in their hands.

 

One soldier then took the bowl in his hand and brought it to his lips. He tipped in into his mouth in such an exaggerated way that Jooheon wasn't even sure that whatever content the bowl held even made it into the man's mouth. He looked in disgust at the soldier who now had large blue streaks of liquid running down his face. When the other soldiers saw this many bursted into sudden laughter, some pulling the messy faced one closer and hugging him for no apparent reason.

 

The whole situation confused Jooheon but also made him curious. What were they doing? Why were they acting so strangely? What was the blue liquid in the bowl? These were the questions that stuck with Jooheon. He decided that he wanted to know what they were doing and that he'd come again tomorrow night and see if they were here again.

 

He turned around to walk away when he accidentally stepped in a particularly crunchy spot of leaves. The crunching was far louder that he hoped and it brought attention. Some of the soldiers suddenly stood up, the smiles now gone from their faces and they drunkenly patted the ground for their guns. "Who's there?" One yelled.

 

Jooheon froze. He had to get them distracted. He searched the forest floor for any ideas and was relieved when he saw a large rock and picked it up. He twisted his torso and threw the rock far away from him to his right. It landed with a jumble of different sounds and was enough to distract the soldiers who went in the direction of the rock to check out the noise. Once they seemed decently far away Jooheon broke out in a run back to town, not stopping. Till he came to the edge of the forest and was met with the cement road. Taking a breath he looked behind him and saw not heard anything, he was in the clear. It wasn't going to stop him from hustling back home to be in the safety of his bed though.

 

Back in his bed he thought back to the strange behaviour of the soldiers, definitely deciding it was something he was going to check out again. Another thought crossed his mind- should he tell his friends? No, no he can't tell them. They'll try to stop him. He'll tell them whenever he figures they need to know.

 

The last thoughts he had as he drifted off was sight of the soldiers acting so strangely but also seeming to be in absolute bliss. As he thought about it sleep slowly creeped up on him and, for the first time in a long time, he had a dreamless night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know not many people read this so I’m grateful to anyone who is. To anyone who is reading this I’m grateful and any criticism/suggestions/tips for writing considering I’m an amateur and don’t write very often is also appreciated. Thank you


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